Sloppy school dinners are officially a thing of the past thanks to top cook David Lucas. The gourmet chef has taken over the kitchens at Icknield High School in Luton, Beds and even the teachers have given him full marks for his culinary efforts.

Instead of over-cooked liver and tasteless tapioca pudding with a horrid blob of jam these lucky children now sit down in style for delights such as roast pheasant, Boeuf Bourguignon, chicken Teriyaki and seafood paella ñ all with the healthy addition of plenty of optional salads and veg.

So impressed are the teachers that they claim the canteen is better than many restaurants. And that's not a bad response considering that Lucas has just 40p per child per day with which to feed the hungry mob.

Lucas, who trained at the Savoy Hotel is more than happy with his daily challenge: “I can't think of a better way to use my talents than to feed children great meals they might never have tried otherwise,” he said. “I run the school kitchen just as I would a five star restaurant.”

The kids' response has not yet been chronicled, but needless to say the teachers are staying out of the local pubs at lunch-time now.